By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
AEK Athens reacted well after the painful loss in the Basketball Champions League final, defeating Aris Thessaloniki 87-81 in Game 1 of the Greek League quarterfinal series.
Coached by Dragan Šakota, AEK took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series and will now head to Thessaloniki for Game 2.
The home team built a 15-point advantage early in the fourth quarter and managed to hold off Aris’ late comeback attempt. The visitors cut the deficit to three points with just over a minute remaining, and later to 82-79 after a three-point play by Amine Noua, but consecutive dunks from RayQuan Gray in the final moments sealed the victory for AEK.
Lukas Lekavičius led the winning side with 16 points, while Greg Brown added 15 points and five rebounds. James Nunnally scored 13 points, while Frank Bartley contributed 11 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
For the team coached by Igor Miličić, Noua stood out with 31 points and eight rebounds. Elijah Mitrou-Long also finished in double figures with 11 points.